Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ The Hated ❯ Chapter Two: The Insistent ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter Two: The Insistent

 

 

 

Luna flinched at the loud beep she assumed was her alarm clock, and covered her head with her pillow. Still, the obnoxious beeping rang in her ears clearly. Much too tired to get up, Luna felt through the air, without bothering to lift her head and look, searching for her alarm clock. She found it, accidentally knocking it to the ground.

 

Luna groaned, and lifted the pillow from her head. Still not opening her eyes, she threw it on top of the damned thing. Upon doing so, she noticed several things wrong. She was sweaty. Really sweaty. And, the pillow didn't dull the noise in the least. The `beep, beep, beep' still sounded loudly. And, the most unnerving of it all: Luna smelled smoke.

 

Her heart skipped a beat and a rush of adrenaline forced open her light blue eyes. Her smoke alarm ringing like mad, and a flickering light accompanying the smoke filtering into her room, Luna sprang up and looked around. Even under these circumstances, Luna kept a cool head. She gathered up her comforter, and used it to open the door. She was met with a roar and a wave of heat, and the sound of someone's voice.

 

“Hey!”

 

Luna stepped into the fiery hallway and looked around. Squinting in an attempt to shield her eyes from the heat, she saw the girl she recognized as a classmate and the one whose dorm was down the hall. Not bothering to place a name, Luna stared at the fire dividing them, the dead-end wall behind the other, and then moved her gaze to the comforter still in her hand.

 

“Is someone there?” the girl shouted, trying to see through the wall of flames between them.

 

“I-… I am.” Fatigue and adrenaline fought each other, and Luna's thinking was fogged, though quick. “Look… I'm going to smother these flames, but it won't last long. You need to come across quickly!” Luna readied the large down comforter. “Ready?”

 

“Y…yeah.” Came a scratchy reply. The heat and smoke was wearing on both of them.

 

“Okay…!” Luna threw the blanket over the fire, and the other girl darted though. Just as she was over, the floor fell through. Looking behind her, the girl sighed nervously. Both then took off toward the stairway.

 

Upon reaching a landing before the first floor, the other girl stopped short in front of Luna, causing a collision. Luna looked around her shoulder, and her fears were confirmed. The ceiling had collapsed, and most of it was still on fire.

 

“What now?” The other girl turned, and bright blue eyes met pale ones. Luna blinked. She wasn't sure why, but this girl seemed familiar in a really odd way. Not because they were practically neighbors or they had three classes together. Not because they sat at the same lunch table. It was almost… nostalgia.

 

Luna blinked herself out of this, and thought quickly, “Maybe there's another way out. Some rooms have fire escapes.”

 

“Right.” The other girl nodded and walked past Luna, up the stairs. Suddenly, a horrid crack sounded and Luna looked up to the source. The ceiling just above the other girl was falling. Luna grabbed the girl's pajamas and pulled her back hard, and both of them ended up on the floor, unharmed- but trapped.

 

“Oh…” The other girl muttered. Luna found herself wondering her name, of all things.

 

“Any bright ideas, Courtney?” Luna asked absently, still trying to remember the other's name.

 

“Well…” Courtney blinked, not thinking much of the name usage, “I can get us out alive. But… can you promise not to tell anyone what you're about to see? I… it's not something I want getting out…” Luna nodded, somewhat mystified and very weirded. Courtney stood, facing the corner. For a while, nothing happened.

 

Luna was ready to remark on this when she heard a small rumbling slowly growing over the roar of the fire. Eventually, the wall began creaking. Luna slowly rose, ready for the ceiling to collapse. Instead, the wall cracked, before finally breaking, to reveal a large, wooded plant. It appeared to be a thick, deformed tree limb. Luna stared.

 

“C'mon.” Courtney motioned Luna, despite not trusting the freak tree, was eager to get out of the hell that was once the dorm building for Greene Academy. She and Courtney climbed down, and Courtney returned the tree to its original state.

 

“I have to find Nat and Alex.” She said, and ran off. Before getting far, she stopped and turned. “You can't tell anyone.”

 

Luna nodded, and the other was off again. Five yards from a burning building, it should have been difficult to see the sky. But Luna turned and looked up and a few stars, which brightened and twinkled as she did. “I won't…” She muttered, before ultimately deciding to follow the girl that saved her life.

 

~

 

Luna walked slowly up to the figure on the ground, as it quivered and sobbed. Blue eyes stared at a large pile of ash, burnt brick, and random surviving debris that took the place of the boy's dorm.

 

“It's gone… They're… They're…” Courtney sobbed again, and Luna did the only thing she knew to: sat with the girl and awkwardly waited for more words. Not many came, though there was a great deal of sobbing and sputtering.

 

“Courtneey!” Yelled a distant voice. Luna looked around. Courtney hadn't seemed to notice.

 

“Courteeeey!” Yelled another, clearer, and closer voice. The raven-haired teen stopped.

 

“N-…Nat??” She asked, and sniffed. “Nat!! Alex!”

 

“Courtney!!!” Came the reply, and the teary girl smiled.

 

Luna wasn't one for the following moments. She stood awkwardly through the heartfelt reunion, considering it a little too much like a chick flick. When it was over, Courtney addressed her.

 

“Thank you. You saved my life.” She smiled, “Twice.”

 

Luna returned the smile, “Yeah… well, you saved mine, too, don't forget.” She let out a `ha' and Courtney hugged her. Luna, again, found this girly, but because she felt she somehow knew Courtney, it was somehow okay.